A Strange Peace
by iwanttobehermione
Summary: Draco is wanting to run from his terrifying reality in his 6th year at Hogwarts. He finds an escape in an unexpected place, in the company of none other than Loony Lovegood.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first story that I've ever put online for the world to see. This is just the beginning of a story I felt like experimenting with. I hope you enjoy! There will be more chapters to come... hopefully. I appreciate criticism as long as it's constructive :)**

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, except the plot, sort of. (I hope! I sincerely apologize if there's already a story out there like this.)**

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><p>Draco's pace was rushed but smooth as he walked the horridly familiar path to the seventh floor corridor. Chills shivered down his spine, his chest close to bursting point with anxiety. He clenched his shaking fists, one hand firmly gripping his wand, low at his sides as he continued to make his way through the dark castle to his destination. It was early January; students would soon be returning to Hogwarts to start classes again after their lovely Christmas holidays, filled to the brim with peppermints and chocolates and Christmastime joy. Draco bitterly thought back to the days when he couldn't wait to go home to mummy and daddy and spend holidays being showered with gifts and affection and delicious Christmas feasts. He scoffed at the memories. If only he had known back then what his life would turn out to look like now...<p>

Starving, yet he hadn't been able to even look at food for days. If he ever did manage to get something down, it was only to result in his echoing retches throughout the boy's lavatory. Constant paranoia, undying voices in his head, burning through his mind like fire. He couldn't remember the last time he slept. He couldn't recall the last time his head was not throbbing and pounding with ceaseless pain. His shoulders felt like they were constantly bearing the weight of at least twelve bloody hippogriffs everywhere he went. Draco didn't recognize himself anymore. He felt ill. Surely this was all just a sick, twisted nightmare. Sometimes he would let himself believe that he would wake up in the morning, shiny and new, without a care in the world, because his reality was too heavy to comprehend. But every now and then, a white-hot burning feeling like needles from the sickening mark on his wrist would remind him that this was real. It was really happening, no matter how much he wanted to believe otherwise. He had a job to do; his life and his parents' lives depended on it.

A fresh wave of panic arose in his throat at this last thought- the only clear thought he could ever seem to think anymore. His heart thumped angrily against his ribs as he found it increasingly difficult to breathe. He was trembling from head to foot as he walked the last few steps around the corner leading to the blank stretch of wall he was headed for.

Draco abruptly came to a halt, as though frozen in place, his heart pounding in his ears. The blank wall he had expected to see, opposite the one with a tapestry depicting a wizard trying to teach trolls ballet, was no longer blank. An old, worn, wooden door engraved with intricate designs was planted into the wall, slowly closing behind a flash of long, wavy, blonde hair. Draco's body reacted before his mind had a chance to register what was happening, and he found himself silently slipping through the doorway just before it gently clicked shut.

The room seemed to be endless in size- it hardly seemed to be a room at all. Draco's mind was blank for the first time in months as he soaked up his new, bizarre surroundings. Soft, cushiony grass covered the ground, from which continuous mist was dancing, high up into the sky, dissolving into a gentle, whispering breeze. Deep periwinkles and lavenders and blues clouded the sky above him; silver stars were dusted across the infinite space overhead. Could there really be a ceiling beneath all of this? An enormous silvery-white moon shone from high in the distance, filling the surreal universe below it with a ghostly glow. Massive willow trees could be made out through the fog, gently swaying in the breeze. The sound of slowly running water could be faintly heard somewhere past the nearest tree.

Draco closed his eyes, feeling a cool breeze lovingly caress his face. He inhaled deeply, his body feeling light as air. Exhaling shakily, he slowly opened his eyes again. His heart filled with a very strange feeling as he felt the corners of his mouth stretch. His hand floated up to his face, lightly touching his lips with fingers that no longer felt like his own. Somewhere, deep inside his brain, Draco vaguely realized that he was smiling. An odd sound escaped his lips, echoing distortedly in his ears. A giggle. Did that really just come out of his body? Draco laughed even harder. He felt positively giddy. He was no longer tied down to the earth; he couldn't seem to remember why he stayed there for so long in the first place.

Draco looked down at his body as if it were somebody else's. The black shoes enclosing his feet suddenly felt like jail cells; he swiftly kicked them aside, sloppily pulling off his socks and stepping onto the smooth grass. He couldn't remember ever feeling a more wonderful sensation than this glorious grass against the bottoms of his feet. Unharnessed laughter happily escaped from his throat once more as he absentmindedly loosened his tie and removed it from around his neck, letting it slither to the ground in a heap amongst his long-forgotten wand, which had slipped out of his hand upon entering this world without Draco even noticing.

As Draco drifted further into this mystical new place, his being completely rid itself of all previous knowledge of life, as he knew it. This place was all he knew now; the present, this world right in front of him, all around him- this was all that mattered.

Two giant, shining, crystal blue eyes suddenly appeared through thin mist from behind a tree that Draco was approaching. He stopped and stared, grass between his toes like soft little feathers, breeze kissing his skin. He watched, mildly curious, as the creature that the eyes belonged to stepped out from behind the tree. A small, dainty, naked girl with silky, pale, glowing skin and waist-length blonde hair that shone brightly in the moonlight stood before Draco, smiling vaguely at him. A fuzzy, fleeting feeling in his chest told him that this creature was familiar somehow. He felt safe and warm. Peaceful. Happy. He smiled back at the girl, fascinated by her skin, her eyes. Her naked body looked so natural in this world- like a piece of its puzzle, without which it would not be whole. She was so serene.

"Hello, Draco Malfoy." The voice sounded airy and unfazed by his presence, yet kind and welcoming.

"Luna," he heard himself say, equally as airy. He didn't know why he called her that, but it just seemed to fit.

"I was just about to go for a swim. You can join if you like. Its very relaxing, you know. Not to mention, it keeps the Wrackspurts away."

Draco watched as Luna turned away from him, her hair cascading down her back as she began to wander off. Mesmerized by the grace of her bare form as she moved, Draco's feet began carrying his body after Luna's, hearing himself agreeing that swimming is widely known for keeping away the Wrackspurts, whatever those are.

Time didn't seem to exist in this world. Draco next found himself standing naked at the edge of a vast, sparkling, periwinkle stream, not remembering removing his clothes, but not caring. The mist in the air was thicker close to the water, and Draco strained his eyes to not lose sight of Luna, who had slid into the water, gliding through it towards a small waterfall. He slowly stepped into the steamy water, wanting to be near beautiful Luna. The water gave every ounce of skin that it touched a wonderful, euphoric sensation. He felt his throat moan in ecstasy as he lowered more of his body into the water, still moving towards the otherworldly girl, who was now standing under the waterfall, letting water pour over her head as she danced beneath it.

He approached the girl, watching her in awe as her captivating wet body shined smoothly in the glow of the moon and moved gracefully in some kind of love dance that Draco soon found himself mimicking. She looked so majestic, so perfect, he wanted nothing more than to touch her, to connect their two bodies and become one.

Draco reached out a hand and slowly, carefully, gently brought the tips of his fingers to the side of her face. Something overpowering coursed through his veins as soon as his skin made contact with hers- an electric shock; fire- all he knew was that he never wanted this moment to end. He needed it like he needed air.

Luna's orb-like eye's locked with Draco's storm cloud grey ones, a vacant smile playing on her face as his hand caressed it tenderly, carefully grazing the tips of his fingers along her jaw line to the corner of her mouth. Luna gently took Draco's long, thin hand in her own small, soft ones, slowly planting a tiny kiss on each of his fingertips, all while keeping unblinking eye contact. She lingered for a moment, his hand still cupped in hers, staring him directly in the eyes, before taking a few steps back, away from the waterfall, away from Draco. Their hands parted, though his was still outstretched, reaching for her.

"I enjoyed your company tonight, Draco," Luna's quiet voice danced into his ears as she continued to glide away. "I really must be going now." She turned from him.

"Please don't leave, Luna," Draco's voice sounded desperate as he watched the beautiful creature steadily move farther out of his reach. She turned her head to look at Draco from over her shoulder and paused for a moment. "Please, stay," he begged.

"Goodnight, Draco Malfoy," Luna replied with a soft smile, before looking back away from him and disappearing into the mist.

Draco stood, unable to move, staring at the place she had been only moments ago. He felt his heart ache for the unusual girl. He felt a distant hollowness inside of his chest. Where did she go? Why did she leave him?

Suddenly Draco felt himself falling through mid-air, his vision clouded by overwhelming darkness. The warm water that had once wrapped him in comforting wetness had now evaporated from existence, leaving him dry. Confusion and panic flooded through his body. But then it was over as quickly as it had begun, and he felt hard, cold stone under his heavy feet. The beautiful meadow had gone; he was now in a cold, dark, empty room, the only source of light coming through a tall, grungy window, out of which Draco could faintly see a half-moon hanging alone in the sky. He whipped his head around just in time to see the only door in the room snap shut behind long, flowing blonde hair.

Draco sank to the ground, panting as though he had just run five miles. His head was spinning. A familiar throbbing pain quickly ebbed its way back to his temples as he tried to sort out what on earth had just happened. A strange, salty wetness was leaking from his eyes. He was crying? He wiped the tears impatiently away from his face and suddenly became painfully aware that he was naked. His eyes frantically searched around the room for his clothes and wand. Some panic slightly subsided in his chest as he located all of his clothes stacked in a neat pile on top of his shoes, his wand at the top of the stack in the corner of the room nearest to the door. He scrambled to his feet and got dressed as fast as he could, body shaking violently.

Once fully clothed, Draco Malfoy glanced back at the room, trying to steady his erratic breaths, a strong current of baffling thoughts and emotions rushing through his insides, swallowing him whole as he saw not a single trace of the strange meadow that he had surely just been in… Had there even been a meadow at all? Had he finally gone completely insane, finally cracked under the unbearable pressure of his horrible reality? The eerily empty room staring back at him held no reassurance of the contrary.

Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck as Draco backed out of the room, a crazed look in his eyes. He ran, terrified, as swiftly as he could manage on trembling knees, all the way to his dormitory, thankfully without any interruptions in the halls or Slytherin common room. His dorm room was empty, allowing him to fall freely onto his bed with a strangled cry escaping his lips as he began to sob.


	2. Chapter 2

The following afternoon, students began to arrive back at Hogwarts, and the halls began filling with chipper commotion as everyone greeted their friends with stories of their holidays. Draco was nowhere to be found, which did not surprise his fellow Slytherins as they exchanged knowing looks and eye-rolls with one another in the common room. They had become used to his increasingly distant and brooding demeanor.

After a few short hours of restless nightmares, Draco had wrenched himself from his bed, trembling and covered in a sheet of icy sweat, just as the sun began to creep its way up over the horizon. He forcefully shoved all thought of the previous night out of his brain. He refused to lose his sanity and become the next Loony Lovegood. As far as Draco was concerned, everything that happened last night had just been part of his nightmares. He angrily refused to let himself believe otherwise. He had a job to do, and he failed to do it last night. He needed to get a hold of himself! He needed to succeed. He could not face the consequences of failure.

Face set with tense determination, Draco silently snaked through the early-morning-quiet castle, away from the Slytherin dungeons and up towards the seventh floor, finally finding the blank stretch of wall that he had set out to see last night. He closed his eyes, concentrating hard, as he paced back and forth three times in front of the wall. Upon re-opening his eyes, his vision was greeted with a darkly familiar door, magically appearing into the wall in front of him. With a loathsome sense of sickening relief in the pit of his stomach, Draco looked over his shoulder at the empty corridor, and then walked through the door. Just as he vanished into the room, so did the door, safely concealing Draco Malfoy in the secret room behind a blank wall, where he stayed for the remainder of the day.

Early evening came, and Draco found himself for once satisfied with the progress he had made throughout the day. He hadn't felt so confident about the outcome of his task in months. He finally left the room for the day where he had spent countless hours since September, feeling rather pleased with himself as he strutted his way down to the Great Hall for some dinner. Anxieties in his chest were scarce as he strode into the Hall, sneering at some Weasleys as he passed them, seating himself at an empty section of the Slytherin table. He was one of the first to arrive for dinner. He helped himself to large mounds of mashed potatoes and ham, stuffing food into his mouth, looking slightly like an animal. It had been far too long since he had last been able to eat like this; paranoia usually greatly suppressed his appetite. Draco hardly took notice of Crabbe and Goyle as they heavily seated themselves near him and began loading their plates, or of Pansy as she tried to capture his attention by loudly flirting with Blaise.

He was just finishing up his last bite of food, aware of Snape's black eyes piercing into the side of his face from the table at the top of the Hall, intending to linger in the room longer than necessary because he knew Snape could not interrogate him here, when he saw something that made his stomach drop. Barely taller than the seated students at their tables, a glowing, blonde head was floating toward the Ravenclaws serenely, radish earrings bobbing along with each step. Draco had successfully managed to entirely rid his mind of the previous night, completely convinced that it must have just been an extremely strange dream, and had not given it any more thought than that since he first woke up that morning… until now.

Visions of the strange and wonderful meadow avalanched into his head, filling his mind's eye with splashes of periwinkle and silver and Luna's naked body. He could not take his eyes away from her as she neatly sat on an empty bench at her table and began inspecting the food in front of her as though she had never seen it before. Draco's heart began racing as his mouth suddenly became too dry to swallow the food he had been chewing. He grabbed for his cup of pumpkin juice- it almost slipped right through his now sweaty palm- and forced the food down his throat along with the gulp of his drink, still staring at the strange girl. His breathing became shallow as the memory of last night continued to dance around his brain, taunting him, daring him to try and forget about it again.

Upsetting the table slightly with his long legs as he abruptly stood, Draco ripped his eyes away from Luna Lovegood, willing himself to tighten his grip on sanity as he rushed out of the Great Hall, fast as he could. He did not have time to go insane. He did not have time to take a vacation from his Death Eater duties in Loony Ville, tempting as it may be. He felt a pang of horror in his chest upon realizing that he was tempted to join Loony Luna in the land of the terminally insane. His pace quickened to a trot. Last night was not real. It did not happen. It was just a dream. A strangely good dream… Draco shook that dangerous thought aggressively away. He burst through the abandoned bathroom's door, feeling tightness in his chest and throat. Lip quivering, Draco ran to the sink, jerked at the handle, and then plunged his face into the small pool of ice cold water, screaming into it. Several moments later he came up, gasping for air, gripping at the sides of the sink with shaking hands. Against better judgment, he glanced at the mirror hanging above the basin and forced himself to look at his own reflection. Dripping wet, dark circles under his slightly red, swollen eyes, he looked like a stranger to himself. His face was thin, his body looked on the verge of skeletal. He was pale as a ghost. His eyes looked haunted. He turned his back on the mirror, hastily entering the nearest toilet cubicle and locking himself inside. He sank to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest, and cried.

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><p>Weeks passed. At first it took all of Draco's self control not to think about that Loony night, but as the days went by, it became considerably easier to almost completely forget about it again. He carried on avoiding people as usual, though a bit more thoroughly now, always peering around a room before entering it to make sure he would not be lured into insanity by any blonde headed girls with radishes in their ears. His mind quickly became completely consumed by his previous predicament, and he spent all of his time that he wasn't in class up in the Room of Requirement, laboring away.<p>

January was dying out now, along with any amount of confidence that Draco ever temporarily felt, and Snape was becoming unbearable, constantly breathing down his neck. Draco was glad to see the end of the school week, although it meant he would be facing a long, agonizing weekend up on the seventh floor. The last Friday of the month, while the rest of the school was headed for dinner, Draco decided to stretch his legs outside the cluttered castle and try to clear his mind for once. He had been working so hard; he could afford just one night of freedom.

Crisp winter air nipped at his face as he exited the castle unnoticed, broom in hand. He shivered slightly at the chilly wind, deeply breathing in the deliciously fresh air. It was dusk, the sun sinking behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Draco felt lighter than he had in ages, appreciating that the only sound he could hear was the quiet breeze that pleasantly stung his ears. Happily being the only person in sight, he mounted his broom and took off, getting lost in the thrilling sensation that only flying could bring.

Draco flew high through the air feeling invincible, diving low through the forest and shooting back up again, racing as fast as he could around the castle until everything around him became a blur. Hours passed before Draco took notice of how very dark it had become outside. A large, yellow full moon hung overhead, casting a faint glow over the castle and it's surroundings. He slowed to a near stop, level with the school's highest towers as he peered up at the night sky. He felt calm in the presence of the beautiful moon; his surroundings somehow managed to suck all the stress out of his body. He wasn't Draco Malfoy in that moment. He was simply part of the air, floating around into the sky. It almost didn't faze him when he saw wild, bright blonde hair flowing freely above the trees of the Forbidden Forest, because there was something so natural and perfect about Luna Lovegood hovering alone in midair at that moment in time.

His neck nearly broke as Draco snapped his head back towards the trees in disbelief. Staring in complete shock and wonder at the incredible sight, Draco began drifting towards the girl on his broom, unable to even begin to sort out the jumble of confusion now clouding his brain. Loony Luna, floating around in the sky with no broom? Should he go catch her before she fell? How was she doing that? Did somebody put a curse on her? She was seated in the air as though she were riding an invisible horse… Something registered in Draco's mind at that last thought. Invisible horses. Thestrals. He vaguely remembered learning about them during the previous year. Before he had a chance to try and recall the lesson on thestrals, Luna was diving gracefully through the air, disappearing back into the sea of trees. Draco could not help himself; curiosity got the best of him and he sped towards the spot in the forest where Luna had vanished.

Dipping low, barely brushing the tops of the trees as he quietly circled around, he could catch glimpses of Luna through the branches. She had her hand outstretched, apparently petting some invisible creature. She ran her hand along gently through the air in front of her and Draco found himself wondering what it would feel like to pet a thestral. He found himself wondering what it would feel like to be that thestral which Luna was tenderly stroking. His heart ached horribly as he deeply and truly wished that he could swap lives with that thestral.

Luna's hand fell to her side, staring intently at the creature that Draco could not see. Her large, curious eyes seemed to be following something as it backed away from her. Draco, much to his astonishment, could faintly hear rustling leaves on the ground as the invisible horse moved. Slowly, Luna's bright blue orbs carefully followed along some invisible line from the apparent beast in front of her all the way up through the trees, to where her sight fixed upon Draco. She stared up at him for a long moment, wide eyed yet calm, while Draco's heart skipped a beat as though he had been caught doing something that he was not supposed to be doing. His mind buzzed as he tried to decide on what to do. Should he just fly away and pretend he never saw her? Should he say hello? Should he be afraid of big, invisible beasts flying around him without him even knowing it? Were they dangerous? He shivered at the thought and was racking his brain about whether or not he should rescue Luna from the bloody ominous, winged monsters when her dreamy voice floated up to him, freezing all traffic in his mind and capturing his undivided attention.

"Hello again, Draco Malfoy. This is a peculiar place to find you on a night like tonight. Do you come to watch the thestrals often? You're scaring them away, you know. Can't you see them?" She continued to gaze up at him, now with an expression of polite curiosity.

There were a few long moments that stretched by before Draco was able to find his voice. "No," He managed to say. His tone was that of a vulnerably curious child; he sounded nothing like the Draco Malfoy he normally was. Draco's newfound innocent side of himself went unnoticed by either one of them for the time being. His usually unyielding emotional guard had been completely forgotten in this mystifying moment. Draco descended to the ground beside Luna without thinking about what he was doing, landing with a soft thud onto his feet.

Luna's gaze shifted back towards the place where Draco assumed the thestral was standing.

"They're rather beautiful creatures. Gentle and kind; very sensitive, thestrals are. Quite peaceful beings." Her head tilted slightly as she studied the animal unseen by Draco, her eyes full of loving fondness. Draco watched Luna intently, feeling something warm spread through his chest as he saw the compassion oozing from the girl beside him. A light breeze swept past, gently blowing a few stray hairs around Luna's porcelain face. Draco had never seen anyone look so beautiful; much less a person who stood in the moonlight, admiring some eerie death-horse as though it were the most wonderful thing to ever grace her presence. A nasty, inner voice told Draco to get the hell away from this bizarre girl and her creepy oversized bat-mules. But there was something else inside of Draco that overpowered that voice, killing it.

His heart felt free and at ease here, standing in the forest with Luna Lovegood under the moonlight. It had finally broken free from the chains that had been holding it down for so long, buried deep under miles of the anger and fear and insecurities that had merged together over the years, forming his seemingly tough barrier. Draco's insides were split in a fierce battle: fiery voices were hissing warnings at him to leave now before its too late, before he lost control of himself, while more powerful forces within him were working to extinguish those flames of hatred. Through all the inward controversy, Draco felt as though he were outside of his own body. He was not concerned with his insides anymore; right now, he was too busy relishing the carefree feeling that was washing over him as he admired the electrifying girl he was in the company of.

Somewhere, deep in his subconscious, Draco desperately wanted an escape from his horrible path towards murderous ways, now more severely than ever. The urge within him to resist escaping to Loony Ville was dead. He didn't have it in him to fight it anymore. He didn't want to fight it. In that moment, Luna's shining eyes peering into Draco's once more, he wanted nothing more than to run away with her and get forever lost in Luna's world.


End file.
